Zoe Braga Events -

Nicole Schwab

We hired Zoe to plan our wedding weekend at Switzer Farm in Mendocino, and she was amazing! When we interviewed wedding planners, we chose her for her extensive experience with the venue and her calm demeanor during our initial call. With so many vendors to coordinate, her recommendations and relationships made all the difference. Zoe was always responsive, helping us stay organized with clear tasks. Our family and friends consistently commented on how on top of things she was, and how sweet she and her staff were. During the wedding weekend, she was present for our welcome party, wedding events, and farewell brunch, ensuring everything ran smoothly. Zoe is willing to play any role needed to keep things on track. She’s not only incredibly experienced but also the sweetest person to work with. I miss our chats already! Highly recommend her services!

Jesse Harrison-Noonan Personal

We hired Zoe to plan our wedding at the Skunk Train as well as events at Inn at Newport Ranch (hereafter INR) in Mendocino/Fort Bragg, CA in Sept 2024.

We could not be happier with Zoe and her team, and highly recommend her for any wedding coordination needs.

Zoe and her team went above and beyond to deliver the BEST weekend of our lives. At 4 days of events, 2 venues (one very remote) and 160 guests, this was a complex wedding for many reasons. I can confidently say that the wedding was incredible however, and Zoe's team delivered the most magical weekend of our lives.

Below is a list of just some of the reasons we loved Zoe:

EXPERIENCE:
* Extensive experience in wedding planning
* Team available to help as needed
* Well connected across the North Coast
* Had worked at both our venues previous (only planner our of 4 we interviewed that had)
* 20+ preferred vendor list

COMMUNICATION:
* Very responsive via all communications (text, email and calls)
* Collaborated on regularly scheduled calls w/ notes doc, delegating and following up on all action items w/ her team
* Repository of custom wedding planning templates and checklists; created copies for us and helped ensure we were on track
* Incredibly organized and detail oriented (loved this!), including a minute by minute timeline for the entire weekend
* Great partnership and relationship across the board; always brought a sense of reason and calm to conversations

PARTNERSHIP:
* Collaborated with all vendors to see through our wedding vision
* Faced venue headwinds (outside of her control) with incredible grace, keeping us informed as needed and always advocating for what was best for us
* Creative in regards to executing on our vision, thinking of out of the box solutions (i.e. hiring her team to haul in items as needed, etc)
* Flexible and adaptable, stepping up last minute to adapt to unforeseeable venue curveballs out of all of our control

BUDGET:
* Conscious of our budget, coming up with out of the box solutions to help ensure we stayed within our forecasted amounts
* Offered advice on where to cut costs, leaving it up to us to make the final decision

WEDDING WEEKEND:
* Worked extended hours with her team to set up wedding on a train and in a remote venue
* Incredibly responsive across all communication methods during the weekend (despite our venue having limited cell service and no wifi)
* Entire team was queer friendly and so friendly, caring and professional (received many compliments on Zoe Braga's team the entire weekend)
* Advocated for us and our vision throughout the weekend across all venues, ensuring our wedding was delivered as expected wherever possible

If you're planning a wedding, do yourself a favor and hire Zoe. She is the best vendor decision you'll ever make, and worth every dollar.

Photos taken by Holly Shankland Photography and posted with permission

Rachelle Derouin

From the perspective of a wedding photographer, Zoe is a dream to work with. She is organized, on top of all the details, an excellent communicator, and super friendly. We worked together on a gorgeous queer wedding in Guerneville, and beyond the smooth flow of the day, it was also one of the sweetest weddings I've documented. Zoe’s energy is warm, kind, and open to collaboration. I enthusiastically recommend her!

Caroline Lennon Schlegel

We LOVED Zoe! She was so kind, organized, and on top of everything that needed to happen. I felt so calm having her guide us through the planning process and weekend. She made our wedding absolutely perfect. She made the things that were important to us happen & gave us thoughtful feedback when working through decisions.

Zoe helped us curate the most perfect weekend from backyard games, yoga in the redwoods (morning of), to our magical ceremony. I couldn't recommend her more ❤️.

Andrew Ledford

Zoe and Sarah were absolute lifesavers as our event coordinators and wedding planners. Zoe had a separate event the day of our wedding but was so helpful in the lead-up. Her list of contacts and local knowledge made things so much easier. Sarah was our day-to-day contact and took amazing care of us -- answering our questions, questions from parents and other folks involved with the planning, and executing all the details to perfection. We're grateful we worked with such kind, knowledgeable, helpful, and professional people. They made our big day run as smoothly as possible, and we can't recommend their services highly enough.

Eli Leavitt

Zoe was exactly what we could have hoped for! It was such a pleasure working with her for our wedding. Her guides and checklists made it so easy to feel like we were staying on track and not overlooking anything, and she was able to really the experience tailor to the specific needs of our event. Always so friendly to communicate with, her even-keeled nature put us at ease throughout the process. And on the day itself, she was so helpful, working with us, all the venue staff, and the photographer to make sure things ran smoothly without us even having to worry. We would enthusiastically recommend Zoe to everyone.

Marybeth Baluyot

Our 6 month anniversary is creeping up so this review is obviously long overdue, but I can already say that partial credit for contributing to a lasting marriage goes to hiring the perfect wedding coordinator. Zoe Braga and her team is just that.

Beginning a year out and two years into the pandemic, I appreciated Zoe’s thorough event plans and venue walkthroughs in preparation for our almost 200-person wedding. From having multiple local connections and familiarity with our vendors (venue, rentals, catering, florist, cake) to providing her own set-up and bartending crew to anticipating issues and problem-solving for them, Zoe took so much of the typical wedding planning stress off our plates. It was such a sigh of relief to know that our event was in good hands with a professional so we can focus on all of the other personal matters like bridal party and family logistics for the week of. Not to mention her calm and collected demeanor throughout the entire process which made it feel like unplanned therapy sessions.

As a day-of coordinator, she provided way more than we could’ve ever asked for! Zoe gave our 28-person wedding party (including flower kids, ring bearer, parents) a detailed rundown of the ceremony during our wedding rehearsal, helped us set up for our rehearsal dinner, and was at our wedding day bright and early to meet every single one of our vendors while we got ready and took photos. I highly recommend adding on the extra day of support for both your and her sake! It made the day-of that much simpler. On our actual wedding, my now husband, family and I were the most relaxed we had ever been for an event we hosted. Zoe ensured cohesiveness of all vendor relations and seamlessness of the timeline. Any issues that had arisen behind the scenes, we weren’t made aware of because she handled it that quickly. Things like heavy wind, possible rain, or timeline changes. She even brought us hors d'oeuvres and our signature cocktails post-ceremony so we can fuel up and enjoy some alone time before mingling with guests!

As an out of towner from Sunnyvale, and not all too familiar with the Mendocino and Fort Bragg area, I could not recommend Zoe Braga enough. Take advantage of her detailed communication (email or phone) throughout the year and give her your personal sketches/items and she’ll make it the most unique and magical experience you can ask for.

Yoonjin Min-Morrison

We hired Zoe as a partial planner for our wedding day and day-of-coordinator for our welcome party. Having her support & insight was crucial and we appreciated her local relationships & experience working with the best vendors. Our weekend surpassed all of our expectations with additional sweet touches like a floral arrangement from Zoe’s moms garden, coordinating a bonfire for us on the beach, and exceptional service for our guests throughout the weekend. Her calm demeanor was perfect to calm this Type A, anxious bride! ♥️♥️